When Success Attracts Unwanted Guests
Rachel A had spent fifteen years building her property management portfolio at a riverside business centre in Walton-on-Thames. The converted Victorian building housed six small businesses – everything from a graphic design studio to a solicitor’s practice – and had maintained near-100% occupancy since she’d renovated it five years earlier.
So when one of her longest-standing tenants, James from the accountancy firm on the first floor, called her on a Tuesday morning in September, Rachel initially thought it would be another routine maintenance request.
“Rachel, I need to talk to you about something,” James said, his voice tense. “And I really don’t want to alarm you, but we’ve got a situation.”
Rachel’s heart sank. In property management, “situations” were never good news.
“One of my staff saw a rat in the kitchen area yesterday,” James continued. “At first, we thought maybe it had just wandered in from outside – the back door was open for deliveries. But this morning, we’ve found droppings in the storage cupboard. I think we might have a problem.”
The Problem Escalates
Rachel immediately contacted a local pest control company, and they attended the building that same afternoon. Traps and bait stations were strategically placed, and the pest controller assured her it was probably just an isolated incident – perhaps a rat that had found its way in from the nearby River Thames.
For about ten days, everything seemed fine. The traps remained undisturbed, and Rachel started to relax. Problem solved, she thought.
Then the phone calls started again. This time it was Sophie, who ran the marketing consultancy on the ground floor.
“I’m not being dramatic, Rachel, but I heard something in the wall cavity near my desk yesterday,” Sophie explained. “A scratching sound. And this morning, I found droppings under the sink in our kitchenette.”
Within the next week, Rachel received similar reports from three other tenants. The solicitor’s practice found evidence of rats in their document storage room. The web development company reported hearing noises in the ceiling void. Even the graphic designers – whose unit was at the opposite end of the building – discovered droppings near their waste bins.
“I started to panic at that point,” Rachel admits. “This wasn’t one rat that had wandered in. This was an infestation. And with six businesses all experiencing the same problem, I knew I had to act fast before someone’s client saw something and word got out.”
The pest control company returned and increased their efforts, but Rachel could see the frustration on the technician’s face.
“Look, I can keep setting traps,” he told her honestly, “but rats don’t just materialise inside buildings. They’re getting in from somewhere, and until we find out where, we’re just playing catch-up. Have you considered checking your drains?”
Finding the Root Cause
Rachel had never thought about the building’s drainage system as a potential access point for rats. The Victorian property had been comprehensively renovated, including updated plumbing, so she’d assumed everything underground was sound.
But the pest controller’s suggestion made sense. The rats were appearing inside the building, often near plumbing areas and waste pipes. They had to be coming from somewhere.
After searching online for drainage specialists in Walton-on-Thames, Rachel found YourDrainExperts. She called that afternoon and explained the situation.
“The person I spoke to was brilliant,” Rachel recalls. “She didn’t dismiss my concerns or make me feel like I was overreacting. She just said, ‘Let’s get a camera down there and see what’s actually going on.’ It was exactly what I needed to hear.”
The Investigation Reveals All
Our team arrived at the Riverside Business Centre two days later. Rachel met us in the car park, where we identified the main drainage access points serving the building.
“I’d never actually watched a CCTV drain survey before,” Rachel says. “I stood there with the engineer, watching the monitor as the camera went through the pipes. It was fascinating and horrifying in equal measure.”
The problem became apparent within the first fifteen minutes. Our high-definition cameras revealed multiple fractures and cracks in the older clay pipes that served the rear section of the building. Despite the interior renovations, the original Victorian-era drainage pipes had remained in place – and after more than a century of service, they were showing their age.
“The engineer paused the footage at one particular crack,” Rachel remembers. “He said, ‘That’s your entry point right there. See how it’s opened up? A rat can fit through a gap smaller than that.’ It was like watching a crime investigation – we’d finally found how they were getting in.”
But the survey revealed more than just the access points. Several sections of the drainage system showed substantial accumulations of organic waste and food debris – material that had washed down from the business kitchenettes over the years and had become lodged at damaged sections of pipe.
“The engineer explained that we’d basically created a rat motorway with all-you-can-eat buffets along the route,” Rachel says with a rueful laugh. “No wonder they kept coming back. We weren’t just providing shelter – we were providing room service.”
The Solution Takes Shape
Our engineers outlined a comprehensive solution. The damaged pipes could be repaired using no-dig relining technology, effectively creating new, seamless pipes within the existing structure without the need for disruptive excavation. Following that, high-pressure water jetting would flush out all the accumulated debris, eliminating the food source that was attracting the rats in the first place.
“I was worried about the disruption to my tenants,” Rachel admits. “They’d already been dealing with the rat problem for weeks, and I didn’t want to add building works on top of that. But the engineer assured me the work could be done with minimal impact.”
Rachel approved the work immediately, and our team scheduled it for the following week. The entire process took three days – relining the damaged sections on day one, thorough jetting and cleaning on day two, and final inspections and testing on day three.
Peace Returns to Riverside Business Centre
The transformation was immediate and complete. Within days of the work being completed, all signs of rat activity ceased. The scratching sounds stopped. No new droppings appeared. The pest control traps remained empty.
“I remember calling each tenant individually about a week after the work was finished, just to check in,” Rachel says. “Every single one of them reported the same thing – total silence. No more noises, no more signs of rats, nothing. It was like flipping a switch.”
Two months on, the building remains completely rat-free. Rachel has since arranged an annual drainage maintenance contract with YourDrainExperts, combining regular CCTV surveys with preventative cleaning.
“I learned my lesson,” she reflects. “You can’t just assume that because a building looks good above ground, everything underneath is fine too. Those Victorian drains had been slowly deteriorating for decades, and the renovation work five years ago never touched them. I should have had them surveyed back then.”
For her tenants, the resolution has meant they can get back to focusing on their businesses rather than worrying about rodent infestations affecting their professional reputations.
“James from the accountancy firm actually sent me a bottle of wine afterwards,” Rachel laughs. “He said, ‘Thank you for taking this seriously and sorting it properly.’ That meant a lot. When you manage commercial property, maintaining good relationships with your tenants is everything. If I’d messed this up or let it drag on, I could have lost multiple tenants.”
She adds thoughtfully: “The thing I appreciated most about YourDrainExperts was the transparency. They showed me exactly what was wrong, explained why it was happening, and outlined precisely how they’d fix it. No jargon, no upselling, just honest expertise. And most importantly, it actually worked. We haven’t seen a single rat since.”
Key Lessons for Property Managers
This Walton-on-Thames case study highlights several important considerations for commercial property managers:
- Persistent rodent problems in commercial buildings often indicate underlying drainage infrastructure issues
- Building renovations may update internal plumbing while leaving original underground drainage untouched
- CCTV drain surveys provide definitive evidence of access points and system condition
- Accumulated organic waste in drainage systems creates food sources that attract and sustain rodent populations
- Modern no-dig repair technology allows drainage problems to be resolved without major disruption to commercial tenants
- Regular drainage maintenance prevents small issues from developing into major infestations
- Addressing the root cause through drainage repair is more effective and cost-efficient than ongoing pest control alone
FAQs: Eliminating Rat Infestations Through Drainage Repairs in Walton-on-Thames
We've got rats in our office building and pest control isn't solving the problem. Could it be the drains?
Almost certainly, yes – especially if you’re in Rachel’s situation where the pest control keeps catching rats but more keep appearing.
Here’s the thing: pest control deals with the rats that are already in your building, but if you’ve got entry points they’re using to get in, you’re basically fighting an endless battle. It’s like bailing water out of a boat while there’s still a hole in the bottom – you’re never going to win.
If your building has rats appearing inside offices (not just occasionally spotted outside), if you’re hearing scratching sounds in walls or ceiling voids, if multiple areas of the building are affected, or if the problem keeps coming back even after pest control treatments – then you’ve almost definitely got access points in your drainage system.
Rats are incredibly good at finding their way through damaged drains. A crack as small as 15mm is enough. They can squeeze through gaps you wouldn’t believe. And Victorian or older buildings, like Rachel’s converted property in Walton-on-Thames, often have drainage systems with decades of wear and tear creating multiple entry points.
Your pest control technician might have even suggested this already – most experienced pest controllers recognize when the problem isn’t just about catching rats, it’s about stopping them getting in. Rachel’s pest controller was the one who said “have you checked your drains?” because he could see they were fighting a losing battle.
A CCTV survey will show you exactly where rats are getting in. Rachel saw it on the screen – cracks in the Victorian clay pipes that were basically rat motorways into her building. Once those were sealed, the problem stopped. Completely. No more rats, because they couldn’t get in anymore.
How can rats survive in drainage pipes? Surely the water and sewage would drown them?
You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But rats are ridiculously adaptable, and unfortunately, drainage systems are actually pretty ideal for them in many ways.
First off, not all your drainage pipes are full of water all the time. Most of the time, wastewater flows through and drains away, leaving the pipes mostly empty with just a film of moisture. Rats can move through these spaces easily.
They’re also excellent swimmers when they need to be. A rat can tread water for three days and hold its breath for several minutes. So even sections that do have standing water aren’t necessarily barriers.
But here’s the kicker – and this is what Rachel’s CCTV survey revealed – if you’ve got damage to your pipes where food waste has accumulated, you’re basically providing them with a food source. In Rachel’s case, food debris from the business kitchenettes had been washing down the drains for years and getting caught at damaged sections of pipe.
So from a rat’s perspective, your drainage system offers:
- Shelter from predators and weather
- Easy access routes throughout the building
- A reliable food source if there’s organic waste build-up
- Warmth (pipes from kitchens and bathrooms carry warm water)
- Multiple entry and exit points through cracks and damage
It’s basically a rat paradise. They’re not just surviving in there – they’re thriving. And they’re using your drainage network like their own personal tunnel system to access different parts of your building.
That’s why just dealing with the rats you can see doesn’t work. You’ve got to close off their access to the drainage system, and that means finding and repairing the damage.
Will repairing the drains get rid of the rats immediately or do we still need pest control?
Right, this is a really practical question, and the answer is: you need both, working together.
Here’s how it works:
The drainage repairs seal off the access points. Once Rachel’s cracked pipes were relined and the entry points were blocked, new rats couldn’t get in. That stops the problem from continuing. But – and this is important – it doesn’t magically make existing rats disappear.
The pest control deals with any rats that are already inside your building. They’ve got to be trapped or dealt with through the usual pest control methods.
What you’ll find is that once the drainage access is sealed, the pest control becomes dramatically more effective. Instead of constantly catching rats while more keep arriving, you’re dealing with a finite population that can’t be replenished.
In Rachel’s case, the pest control traps that had been constantly catching rats suddenly stayed empty after the drainage repairs. Why? Because there weren’t any more rats getting in, and the ones that were already there had either been caught or, finding no new rats arriving and no access to their previous entry points, moved on to find better opportunities elsewhere.
The combination is what works: seal the drains so they can’t get in, deal with the ones that are already present through pest control, and you’re done. Rachel’s building went from multiple tenants reporting rat activity to complete silence within a couple of weeks of the repairs being completed.
Most drainage companies and pest control companies understand this now – we often recommend coordinating the two services rather than treating them as separate issues. Fix the access problem while simultaneously dealing with the resident population, and you solve it permanently.
How much will it cost to fix drainage issues that are letting rats in?
I wish I could give you a simple answer, but honestly, it varies quite a bit depending on what the CCTV survey finds.
What I can tell you is that it’s almost always less expensive than you’re imagining, and definitely less than the cumulative cost of ongoing pest control that doesn’t actually solve the problem.
Here’s roughly what you’re looking at:
CCTV Survey: Few hundred pounds, typically £200-500 depending on the size and complexity of your drainage system. This tells you exactly what’s wrong.
Repairs: This depends on what needs doing:
- If it’s minor cracks and damage that can be sealed with relining, you might be looking at £1,000-3,000
- More extensive damage requiring relining of longer sections could be £3,000-6,000
- In extreme cases with multiple collapsed sections needing excavation, costs could be higher
In Rachel’s situation, she was looking at around £2,500 for the complete job – survey, relining the damaged Victorian pipes, and high-pressure jetting to clear out all the accumulated debris. Not cheap, but not eye-wateringly expensive either.
Compare that to:
- Ongoing monthly pest control contracts (£100-200/month that never actually solves the problem)
- Lost business from tenants leaving (Rachel nearly lost multiple tenants)
- Reputational damage (Rachel’s accountant client was worried about clients seeing rats)
- The stress and management time dealing with constant complaints
When Rachel’s accountant tenant sent her a bottle of wine afterwards and said thank you for sorting it properly, she realized the investment was absolutely worth it.
And here’s the key thing: once it’s done, it’s done. You’re not paying month after month for pest control that just treats symptoms. You’ve actually fixed the problem. Rachel hasn’t seen a single rat in months, and she’s not spending anything on pest control anymore.
Get the survey done first. Then you’ll know exactly what you’re dealing with and can make an informed decision about whether to proceed. At least you’ll have facts rather than uncertainty.
Our building is Victorian – are we more at risk of rats getting in through damaged drains?
Yes, unfortunately Victorian buildings like Rachel’s Riverside Business Centre are definitely more vulnerable, but not for the reasons you might think.
It’s not that Victorian builders did a bad job – quite the opposite, actually. Those drainage systems have lasted well over a century, which is pretty impressive. The problem is just age and the materials they used.
Victorian-era drainage was typically constructed from:
- Clay pipes (which become brittle and crack over time)
- Brick-built inspection chambers (where the mortar deteriorates)
- Lead or cast iron connections (which corrode)
After 100+ years of use, ground movement, tree root activity, and general wear and tear, these systems have vulnerabilities. Joints separate slightly. Hairline cracks appear. Mortar crumbles. Each of these creates a potential entry point for rats.
Plus, and this is what caught Rachel out, her building had been beautifully renovated internally – new bathrooms, updated kitchens, all very modern. But the original Victorian drainage underneath? That was all still there, quietly deteriorating out of sight.
So you’ve got this situation where the building looks great above ground, but underneath you’ve got 150-year-old clay pipes with decades of accumulated damage that nobody’s ever actually looked at properly.
The good news? Modern no-dig relining technology is brilliant for Victorian drainage. Rachel’s pipes were essentially given a new lease of life without having to dig up the building or replace the entire system. The relining created new, seamless pipes inside the old Victorian ones – stronger than the originals and completely rat-proof.
If you’re in a Victorian or Edwardian building in Walton-on-Thames and you’re experiencing any rodent issues, I’d strongly recommend getting a CCTV survey done sooner rather than later. You might be surprised what’s going on down there. And if there is damage, catching it before it gets worse is always going to be cheaper than waiting for a major failure.
Can we just block up the visible access points instead of doing expensive drainage repairs?
I understand the thinking – find where they’re getting in, stick some concrete or wire mesh over it, job done, right? Much cheaper than drainage repairs.
The problem is, it almost never works as a long-term solution, and here’s why:
You probably won’t find all the entry points. Rats might be using multiple cracks and gaps throughout your drainage system. You might block one, but they’ll just use another. Rachel had multiple fractures in her Victorian pipes – blocking one visible access point wouldn’t have touched the others.
You can’t see the underground access. The entry points that matter are often inside the drainage system itself – cracks in pipes that are two feet underground. How are you going to block those without actually repairing the pipes?
Rats are persistent and clever. Block a route and they’ll find another. Or they’ll gnaw through whatever you’ve used to block it if it’s not properly done. Remember, these are animals that can chew through concrete if they’re motivated enough.
You’re not addressing the underlying problem. Those cracks and damaged pipes will continue to deteriorate. Even if you somehow successfully block the rats out temporarily, you’ve still got compromised drainage that will eventually cause other problems – leaks, blockages, structural issues.
Rachel could have tried stuffing wire wool into visible access points or sealing up gaps around pipes. It might have helped slightly, temporarily. But it wouldn’t have sealed the cracks in her underground clay pipes, wouldn’t have stopped rats accessing the drainage network, and wouldn’t have removed the food waste accumulation that was attracting them in the first place.
The proper solution – relining the damaged pipes and jetting them clean – actually fixed the drainage system. It didn’t just keep rats out; it restored the pipes to proper working order and prevented future problems.
Think of it this way: blocking visible access points is like putting a plaster on a broken bone. It might look like you’re doing something, but you haven’t actually addressed the injury. The proper fix costs more upfront, but it actually solves the problem rather than just hiding it temporarily.
And honestly? After watching Rachel go through months of stress, tenant complaints, pest control bills, and near-loss of tenants before finally getting it properly sorted – the cost of doing it right the first time suddenly looks like the economical choice.